


High Rollers - 'The Lightfall' - Episode 1

by DanteBanehallow



Series: High Rollers - 'The Lightfall' [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), The Yogscast, Yogscast "High Rollers" D&D Campaign
Genre: Chris Trott - Freeform, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, High Rollers - Freeform, Lightfall, Mark Hulmes - Freeform, yogscast - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7592725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanteBanehallow/pseuds/DanteBanehallow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on Episode 1 of the Yogscast High Rollers DnD 'Lightfall' Campaign Streams! Enjoy! And be sure to let me know if I've messed up any spellings! And feedback of any kind is highly appreciated!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

For 1200 years, the world of Arrak had known peace and prosperity. It had been blessed by a comet of celestial origin - a beacon of positive energy that would shift from the celestial plane and pass through the material plane every 100 years. The comet was known as Pelor's Light, named after Arrak's revered sun god. The waves of energy resonating from it resulted in profound effects on Arrak - crops would be blessed, the sick would be healed and monsters of a foul and terrible nature would remain under a magical sleep. Arrak thrived. 

But Pelor's Light would not shine for much longer.

On the 1300th year, there came a great change. The people of Arrak waited with an air of celebration, eagerly anticipating the arrival of this great entity and with it, it's holy light which would bless and protect them. Then they saw it. 

With a great flash of light, it appeared, streaking across the sky. The people's energy grew electric. They cheered, smiles beaming on their faces, knowing they would be able to settle in for another 100 years of peace and happiness.

But as the comet reached its peak in the sky, they fell silent. Something was wrong. 

As it flew higher and higher, the radiant light surrounding Pelor's Light was replaced with an ominous crimson coloured energy that crackled all around it. Cracks began streaking all over its surface. They watched in horror as the comet suddenly exploded, the thunderous boom reverberating throughout the entire world. It shattered into many shards which descended all over Arrak. They plummeted, slamming into Arrak's surface with enough strength to devastate homes, towns, cities. With that, Arrak's boons were lost.

Farms and economy were ruined and all across the land, terrible creatures that had long slumbered peacefully, now began to stir. 

Arrak was thrown into chaos. 

To this day, no one knows why or how Pelor's Light was destroyed. The terrible and disastrous event came to be known as:

The Lightfall.


	2. Introductions

46 years after the Lightfall -

 

Memories of what happened came in flashes.

They remembered the caravan stopping at dusk. The old caravan master barking orders, telling folks to get a fire going so they could eat their evening meal.

They remembered the thick mist rising as things became darker and the sound of rustling bushes, despite the open plains they were camping in.

They remembered shadowy movements in the corner of their eyes; cries of the caravans' travellers echoing across the quiet hills. They tried to help, but were each struck from behind. Their vision blurred and the last thing they remembered was a hooded pale face and the glow of misty firelight.

Thin beams of light poked through the ceiling, gently illuminating small portions of the old, stone room. The four figures lying on the cold ground all began to stir. They woke, their eyes met with a quiet darkness, their noses with the overwhelming smell of dense foliage and their ears with the faint sound of a man screaming, as well as what sounded like boots being dragged across stone. Sitting up, they began to ache, pulling their stiff, tired muscles. Looking around, the room seemed weathered and ancient. Scattered around the room, along bits of the floor and up across the walls, were moss and ivy, growing wildly and in every direction. As more of their senses began to wake, they each felt their hands incapable of movement, bound behind their backs with what felt like thick vines or grass. Finally, as their eyes adjusted, they each noticed the three other strangers sat in the room with them. In the faint light, they were just able to make out each other's appearance.

Looking close, they found that only one among them was human. His slender frame was covered in weathered green and brown garments, laced with many belts and sashes. His long black hair was tucked underneath a distinct, green bandana. They recognized this attire as a common appearance amongst gypsies.

Two among them were elves, but differed in gender as well as, specifically, the type of elf. The female's skin was a pale shade of blue, only a few tones away from the light and airy hunter's garments she adorned. Cascading from her head was hair of a multitude of purples and blues. The male, in contrast, had skin so dark it actually made him difficult to see in the dim lighting of the room. What was more visible was his pure white hair draping down a little past his shoulders. His outfit was simple, comprising mainly of a brown coat that reached past his knees.

Lastly, one was a race the other three had far less encounters with. A Tiefling, a demon, with purple skin and dark silky hair a much darker share of purple and curious looking horns protruding from her forehead which curved back towards her ears. Wrapped around her body were red robes of a very exotic nature, trimmed with white and even gold in areas. Her red eyes glowed softly, but ominously in the dark.

At this point, they also begun to realize that they were no longer armed.

Looking around, the four of them noticed that, some feet away from them, stood a thick wall of thorny brush, stretching from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, completely separating their confines from the other half of the room. Through this wall they were able to just make out the glint of metal on the other side – daggers, swords and a long, wooden staff with a curved blade on one end.

"My daggers!" the human cried out, suddenly. The other three turned to look at him. He stared back, surprised.

"Whoa, hey", he said, "Nice place to meet you all. I'm Cam. Cam Buckland. I don't give a fuck-land." He followed up the last remark with a mischievous smile.

"Seems like we're all in a bit of a predicament-"

"Do humans find that funny?" the Tiefling interrupted.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, usually works. I've got a lot of charisma. However, it doesn't seem to really be doing it for you."

"No."

"Yeah. Pretty stern one over here" Cam said, looking over at the other two. One was much more visible than the other, as the dark elf seemed to almost blend in with the darkness of the room.

"Whoa! Drow, right?" he asked.

"That's right."

"Love the getup. It's sweet. Can you, uh...maybe just bite at my..." Cam trailed off, motioning to his bound wrists.

"Can't. Dentist appointment."

"Oh, well looks like we're not attending that today." Cam scanned the room, looking for some means of freeing himself. Stood in each corner were broken, ancient-looking stone pillars. They had seemingly shattered, surrounded by small fragments of stone. He shuffled over and began trying to slice through his bonds.

"Guys, don't worry. Check it out," he said, gesturing to the rather slow progress he was making through the very thick vines.

The light skinned elf, yet to make any contribution to this exchange, felt up the vines and examined the thorn wall with a slightly puzzled look that transitioned, all of sudden, into quite an alarmed expression. She recognized the plants spread throughout the room and the material of the wall as a sharp, dangerous type of plant known as razor vine.

"Guys, guys, don't touch that! Don't go over there," she said, motioning towards the large thorny mass. Looking down, she closed her eyes and focused on the vines restraining her, quietly whispering under her breath. After a brief moment the vines relaxed, uncoiling and falling to the ground.

At the same time, it seemed Cam had managed to completely cut through his restrains as he pulled his arms free of the torn vines.

"Whoa!" he said, noticing the elf's clear use of magic, "Are you a druid or something?"

"Yeah!" the elf replied happily. "Nice to meet you!"

"Hey elf," the Tiefling said, having watched her free herself, "Can you do the same thing for me?"

"Sure! I'm Elora, by the way! What's your name?" the elf asked, as she began to work on the Tiefling's vines.

"Jiutou," she replied, as the vines released her.


	3. Prison Break

"Jiutou," she replied, as the vines released her. Cam loomed over her, admiring her horns and generally being somewhat of a nuisance.

Meanwhile, the drow elf wriggled around in the corner, attempting to pull his arms forward and bring his legs through them. Grunting and stretching, he fumbled around but his cold stiff limbs refused to listen.

"Need some help? Do you want me to-?" Elora started.

The drow sighed.

"I think I could use a hand."

Smiling, Elora focused once more, willing the vines to retract and fall apart.

The drow shook his arms, as feeling seeped back into them.

"Thank you," he said, nodding at the elf.

"That's ok!" she chirped happily. "Pretty useful talent you got there," Cam said, nodding approvingly. "This one's giving me pretty bad stink eye"

He motioned to Jiutou. She said nothing in response, pointedly ignoring the annoying human.

"What's the beef?" he asked.

"You're annoying."

"Come on...I'm a nice guy!" Cam said exasperatingly.

"You're really talkative. And was-"

"Sorry, not to disturb you," Elora interrupted, "But...could we try and get out of here?"

"Well, I mean, you're pretty spell-y, right? Could you set this whole thing on fire? Set it ablaze...?" Cam asked, splaying his fingers towards the thorn wall.

"No... I can't." Elora replied.

"Can you not just move it? With the powers you just demonstrated?" Jiutou enquired.

"I could try!"

Elora, once more, focused her mind, turning towards the wall. She strained, willing the wall to bend to her command but to no avail. This was a far larger mass of vines and something about them felt...different. Being a druid, she got the sense that they had been placed there quite specifically, perhaps by magic. However, she remembered that razor fine could in fact be cut apart or burnt, which would do the job quite effectively.

Cam and Jiutou shrugged, at a loss. But at this, the drow faced the wall, stepping back slightly and raised his hand in its direction. Purple energy began to build around his wrist and his fingers, before flying out in a bright, powerful-looking beam. The other three recoiled in surprise, their faces bathed in a purple glow. The beam sailed through the air, connecting solidly with the wall of thorns, tearing a large chunk out of it. The resulting hole was not quite large enough for any of them to get through, however, it was clear that the wall could, in fact, be torn through. Cam whistled in awe.

"Aw, cool man!" he said, "That's badass!"

Elora examined the hole the drow had created. "That looks quite prickly" Cam remarked, flatly.

"Does anyone have, like, a sword or anything sharp behind there that we can reach?" Elora asked.

"Only my wit" Cam shot back, smugly.

The three silently stared at him.

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly.

Jiutou approached the wall. Peering through as best she could, she saw her Guandao, the long staffed topped with a curved, exotic-looking blade, leaning up against the perpendicular, stone wall. There was enough space in the hole created by the drow's blast for something narrow to poke through, but none of their arms seemed long enough to bridge the gap. She paused for a moment. Thinking briefly, she promptly spun around, facing away from the wall. Her long, slender tail sprung to life, making its way towards the hole. The limb snaked through the hole and made for the weapon. Jiutou winced as the thorns scratched at her flesh, tearing small cuts, but she ignored it as best she could. Her tail wrapped around the handle of the Guandao and, carefully, she was able to pull it through and onto their side of the wall. As she took the weapon in hand, she peered through the wall again, into the looming darkness of the corridor ahead. She was certain she had heard something...but dismissed it.

"Whoa!" Cam exclaimed, examining the Tiefling's large weapon, "That is over compensating!"

Jiutou glared at him.

"Sorry. I mean, I'm sure you can use it really well...I'm gonna go stand over here." Cam said, skittering back away from her.

Rolling her eyes, Jiutou turned her attention back to the wall. She gripped the weapon firmly, happy to be armed once more. Focusing on the area damaged by the drow, she begun hacking away. She slashed at the wall over and over, bits of thorn flying off of it. After a brief period, she had managed to tear a hole just big enough so that each of them could crawl through, one after the other.

"Alright then. You did the work, so you should be the first to-" Cam began.

"After you."

"Ok." Cam replied, scooting past the Tiefling hurriedly and through the hole. Arriving on the other side, he stood and dusted himself off. He looked around at their scattered belongings, lying on the floor next to the wall. He quickly gathered up his various knives and daggers, as well as his travelling pack from among the four. He returned to the blade to their various homes on his body. Jiutou looked on in confusion, as he slipped each one back into its sheath. The human was carrying a rather excessive amount of daggers.

"And you thought SHE was overcompensating," said the drow.

"Come on, they're tiny!" Cam replied, holding one up. Elora followed after him, grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows along with her staff.

"Ok, so sussing this out," Cam started, "You've got the bow..."

He gestured to Elora.

"You've got the...woop woop"

He gestured to Jiutou, making the last two noises whilst mimicking holding her weapon in his hands.

"What do you..."

He motioned towards the drow, expectantly as he took his turn to exit through the opening.

"I've got magic. Rapiers. A short bow."

"Ahh. Say no more. Very nice."

He paused. "What's your name?"

"I'm Trellimar."

"Pleased to meet you sir! I'm Cam Buckland." Cam replied, offering a handshake.

Trellimar ignored the hand. "I don't give a fuckland, Cam Buckland."

Cam gasped. "What! You know it! Do you know me? I mean, I probably came through your village at one point...oh wait, your lot live underground, right? Never mind."

He turned to Jiutou. "Cam Buckland," he said, again, offering a hand.

No hand was offered in return.

"You may call me Jing."

"Jing?"

"Mm."

"Pleased to meet you, Jing."

"And you!" he said to Elora.

"Elora!" she reminded him, happily.

"You're REALLY small."

"Yeah...thanks."

"Elora...you're an elf, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Cool...barely seen any elves! I've seen a few Tieflings and a couple drows..."

At the mention of her kind, Jiutou perked up.

"Where?"

"Huh? I mean, ages ago." Cam replied dismissively. "Nice guys though"

"Where" Jiutou asked again, firmly.

"Pfft, I don't know-"

"Were they free?"

"Well, yeah! Actually, no...they kind of...tied down, actually. And being beaten. By a dragonborn."

"Where?" Jiutou repeated, pressing him for more. "How long ago?"

"This was...a few years ago now. Do you have some beef?"

Jiutou didn't answer. "We'll return to this issue later."

"Ok..."

Settling their belongings back on their person, Trellimar, Elora and Cam stared down the corridor. Jiutou was still crouched next to the hole, ready to head through. It was too dark to see very far down. A thin layer of mist crawled around the ground. Elora concentrated, willing the mist to swirl and part here and there. There didn't appear to be any traps of any kind. The way ahead seemed clear. The heavy waft of old foliage was still very much present.

"Well you seem to be doing a pretty good job with the-" Cam said, gesturing to the mist, "Why don't you just..." He began gently pushing Elora down the corridor. "You just keep sussin' it out"

"Hey, hey! Let's just back up a little bit here."

"You'll be fine! You're one with nature"

"Don't push the small one in front! That's just cruel!"

Jiutou peered through the hole. There wasn't much space between the wall and the corridor so the three had so far refused to make room, remaining in her way.

"I'd quite like you to keep moving so I can get out through the tunnel please" she called.

"Shall I take the lead then?" Trellimar asked.

"Yeah go on. You take the lead then, Trell" Cam said, gracefully waving his hand down the corridor. Shuffling past, Trellimar made his way to the front of the group, giving Jiutou ample room to join them on the other side. With everyone ready, the group pushed forward slowly. Proceeding forward, they found that the corridor opened up into a much larger room. Standing at the entrance to the next room, they paused, hearing faint scraping noises from within.They hesitated, their brows furrowing in confusion. The noises seemed akin to that of...bushes, rustling. They pressed forward, slowly, into what must have previously been an antechamber, the roof above them opening up into a much higher ceiling. Adoring the large, flat ground at their feet lay an intricate, stone mosaic. Much like the previous room, this one was overgrown with vines and thorns. They poured down the walls and spilled out across the ground. On the southern side of the room sat a short staircase, flanked by two light sconces, leading up to what would have been an entrance way but had since caved in - blocked up by years of accumulated rocks, rubble and fallen earth. The party proceeded deeper into room. After a few steps, they stopped, having noticed a large bunch of thorns in the far corner of the room – the two other corners, closest to them, held similarly thick brush. It was moving.

 

And there was something in it.


	4. Am-bush

Slinking out of the foliage, it dropped to the floor, turning its head to look around as if it were searching for something. It seemed to be made from the same material it had emerged from. It stood, hunched, on four legs, branches sticking out wildly from various parts of its gnarled, jagged body. It remained where it first landed, not making any noise, save for that of its many thorny parts moving against each other. For a moment, the party froze – some mainly in genuine fear, others simply in slight surprise. Either way, not wanting to draw its attention, the four of them slowly crept into the room, praying the darkness would conceal their passage. They successfully managed a few paces forward, warily eyeing the bizarre creature that had just arrived. Unfortunately, lady luck had not been smiling upon them. Leading the pack, Trell continued forward, only to bring his foot up and back down right on a branch that had fallen from one of the bushes. The resulting snap reverberated throughout the room. Their hearts all sank in unison, as the creature's head whipped round, staring at Trell with glowing green eyes.

"Trell!" Cam exclaimed, shooting him a look before eyeing the creature warily, "Uhm, you guys go ahead." He stepped back in panic, despite being at the back, retreating into the shadows. Jiutou glanced back at him in disbelief, before turning and readying her weapon. She was ready to spring into action, but both Elora and Trell were still in her way in the narrow corridor.

With little hesitation, she leapt upwards, planting her Guandao into the ground, using it to help propel her. Rushing forward, she ran along the wall, past the two elves and kicked off. With her momentum, she sailed through the air, going straight for the creature where it stood. Raising her leg, she delivered a powerful kick. With the sound of splintering wood, the creature recoiled from the blow, rearing back noiselessly. Recovering, it faced Jiutou head on, bearing its arms as long sharp claw shot out from either limb.

At the same time, rustling sounds emanated from the two corners either side of Trell. Leaping into the fray, two more creatures emerged, one from each corner. Like the first, they resembled bundles of twigs and broken vines arranged to form a vague animal shape, but moved with very deliberate sentience. These two, however, were only half the size of the first – about the size of small dogs.

One, seeing Jiutou first, launched itself immediately in her direction, whilst the other turned to face Trell, swiping at him. Its claw managed to barely nick his leg, grazing it, leaving thin, and stinging cuts. He let out a grunt, retracting his leg, backing up into the diminutive elf still behind him.

At the same time, Jiutou had managed to spin around just in time to parry her new attacker's outstretched claws, batting the small creature to the side. Elora's view was slightly obstructed by Trell, stood in front of her. She poked her head around, seeing only the creature that had attacked Trell and the one that had leapt at Jiutou. She raised her staff, focusing her mind. Pointing her other, empty hand towards the two creatures, she twisted it, willing the vines around them, in the floor, to come to life and betray them. All along the floor, stopping just behind Jiutou, twisted, gnarled vines erupted from the floor. They sprung to life, wrapping themselves around the two smaller creatures. They writhed and wriggled, struggling to move, but the vines held tight, restraining them completely. From his position near the back of the corridor, Cam squinted, trying to see through the darkness past Elora and Trell.

"Are there more!?" he asked worriedly, mistaking Elora's druidic craft for the arrival of more creatures.

Lowering her hands, the casting finished, she rushed forward and squeezed past Trell, making for the empty corner from which one of the creatures had been borne. She held her ground in the corner, having a good view of the room and all three creatures. She glanced down at the mosaic on the floor. As she had ran past, she processed that it was of a majestic tree, its branches curving away from the trunk and ending in colored stars. A fleeting feeling of familiarity crossed her mind, but she figured it would be more recognizable to her when she was no longer in the heat of battle.

Meanwhile, Trell watched as vines and thorns shot out from the ground and clung to the creature in front of him, holding it down. The marks it had left on his thigh still radiated with a faint pain. Glaring right into its eyes, he raised his hand, purple energy once again coiling around it. The still present pain, although mild, caused him to mistime his attack as the energy released, just catching the creature in the shoulder, blowing chunks of twigs off its body. It remained standing, still incarcerated by Elora's magic, even as the bolt of arcane magic ripped through it.

The larger creature swung one of its needle-like arms at Jiutou. She raised her arms, staving off most of the attack, but failing to prevent one arm from getting raked. She winced, but returned to her stance, shaking off most of the pain. The creature remained where it was, simply engaging her; toying with her; keeping her on her toes. The other, smaller being remained trapped behind her, its claws just out of reach.

Deciding to finally get involved, Cam sauntered up behind Trell gently pushing him aside. He eyed up the closest attacker as he reached down and produced a dagger from one boot. He brought it close to his face, running it along his upper lip, inhaling deeply. Raising it vertically, he flicked his wrist, sending it spinning through the air. It rotated as it flew, lining up expertly with the creature's neck. It connected solidly, cleaving through its neck of twisted vines. The head toppled off, falling to the ground, as the rest of the body slumped, dead.

"See that?" Cam said smugly to Trell, who sighed as he nursed his leg wound.

On the other side of the room, it seemed the other fight had reached its end too. With razor-sharp reflexes and accuracy, Jiutou raised her Guandao and spun it, the blade whistling as it sliced through the air. She brought the weapon straight into the first creature's neck, effectively decapitating it. Continuing her sweep, she spun on the spot, bringing the Guandao round and into the last standing opponent. The huge long weapon easily decimated its brittle body, smashing it to pieces. Jiutou crouched, her weapon raised above her head, letting out a breath as the battle reached a close. She smiled, satisfied.


	5. The Mosaic

Taking their time to recover from the fight, the party gathered in the center of the room, admiring the large stone mosaic. It was immediately clear to them that this symbol represented to whom this place was devoted to – Corellon Larethian, the head of the elven pantheon, the elven deities. But something was off about it. It wasn't exactly as they remembered it to look. Each branch of the beautiful, symmetrical tree was meant to end a single, silver star; a few of the stars depicted on this mosaic ended in golden stars.

As they examined this strange discrepancy, Cam perked up suddenly.

"Guys I, uh, I killed one of those tree things, you probably saw it, yeah?" he asked, smugly.

"You're welcome! For holding it down," Elora pointed out.

"Well yeah, that was pretty sweet. Nice moves there," Cam said respectfully, nodding at Jiutou. "Pretty good."

"You're awesome!" Elora added.

"Thank you" the Tiefling replied flatly.

"But you probably saw me though, right?" Cam interjected, attempting to swing the spotlight back on him.

"I mean, yeah..." Elora admitted.

"I was too busy killing everything." Jiutou replied.

"Anyway, there's something wrong about this tree." Cam said, shaking his head at Jiutou's snide comment, as he stepped over and pulled out his dagger from the gnarled, wooden corpse. "I don't know if you guys knew, but this is the symbol of Corellon Larethian."

"The king of Elven gods?"

Cam crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Does that mean this is an Elven place then?" Elora asked.

"You tell me. You're the elf." Jiutou shot back.

Elora furrowed her brow, looking again at the picture on the floor. It was, in fact, the symbol of Corellon Larethian for sure, despite the few divergences from the original symbol. So it had to be Elven, definitely. But from the state of it and the weathering all along the stone, this looked ancient. Very ancient. From what she could gather, this temple of sorts must have existed long before the Lightfall – before Pelor's Light arrived. Normally, Elven architecture was very beautifully carved. Elves were renowned for mastering many crafts and building great and beautiful infrastructure. But around her, it seemed like this temple had been built during a time when Elves were still trying to refine their technique.

"This is hundreds and hundreds of years old." Elora muttered under her breath, half to herself, half to her companions.

"And you're like, what, two...hundred? I mean, it's very rude to ask a lady her age, but were you around when this was-" Cam asked, gesturing to the stonework around them.

"No! I'm not that old!"

"Right. I won't ask anymore." Cam said sheepishly.

"Yeah. None of your business."

"They're usually all silver, if I remember..." Cam said, swiftly changing the topic as he pointed to each of the stars.

"Yeah," Elora agreed, nodding, "SHOULD be silver..."

"The gold ones look a bit weird..."

Looking around, the team noticed as well, that a few feet away from the base of the tree was the start of a short staircase leading down to another large room. It was too dark and misty to see any further then two large stone columns flanking either side of the bottom of the staircase. Furthermore, opposite of the corridor they had come from, was yet another corridor, adorned with similar vines and branches weaving through the stonework. And then at the north side of the room, a few feet from the top of the tree, sat another staircase but going up this time, leading to a small landing. Two torch sconces hung on either side on the stairs. Walking up to take a closer look, Cam found that on the other end of the landing stood a tall, arched entrance way blocked off by what looked like thousands of years worth of accumulated rubble and fallen earth. Slipping a dagger out of his boot, he concentrated, filling his mind with a great light. Slowly, the dagger began to glow, giving off a decent light, which he shined out in front of him. The rubble looked large and heavy and the earth around it was compacted from many years of piling up there. If there were any ways out, this would not be one of them anytime soon.

"Looks like this was the main entrance," Cam called back to the group, over his shoulder. "But there's no way we're getting through here. We'll have to find another way out."

Jiutou approached closer to the mosaic, looking down at it. She raised her Guandao and tapped the golden stars with the bottom end of the staff. They showed no sign of moving. 'But they must've have been painted for a reason' she thought. Determined to unlock this rooms possible secrets, she continued investigating. Walking up, stepping around the branches of the tree, she looked up, glancing at the sconces on the wall. Her gaze continued to sweep, to look at Cam stood on the stairs, but did a double take back to the sconces. She stared. 'Strange', she thought, 'It looks almost like...they move.' Her eyes widened slightly. It did in fact appear as though there was a small hinge, sitting at the base of one of the sconces. Glancing at the other, it seemed to have the same. She motioned for the others to have a look. They approached and slowly caught on.

"I think we should try pulling one," Jiutou suggested. "But I don't know...maybe we should stand somewhere safe first."

"Yeah, let's see if we can figure out what it does, before we do anything. Could be a trap." Elora said. She split off, scouring the room for any signs of secrecy. After a few moments, she reached the opposite end of the room from the sconces, where the other short staircase led down into the next main room. She had found nothing so far, at least around the mosaic, but examining the stairs, something caught her eye. There was something strange about the way the sides of the steps met the wall. They didn't quite seem to attach. Rather, it seemed like the staircase itself was a completely separate structure. Perhaps the whole flight shifted somehow?

"Guys, it looks like these stairs are gonna move," Elora said.

"What, these ones? Now?" Cam said, quickly looking down in panic at the steps beneath his feet.

"No, these ones over here. Maybe if we pull those sconces..."

"Could be a trap."

"Or it could be a way out."

"Let's give it a try."

"Hang on. Let's get out of the way first."

Jiutou climbed the steps, to join Cam on the landing, standing opposite of him. Elora stood at the base of the stair, by the right sconce. Trell stood by the left, ready to pull. He reached up, gripped it tentatively and dragged it down. It took a little effort, as rust and weathering seemed to clog up whatever mechanism lay behind the light fixture. Nevertheless, it slowly tilted down to an angle before shifting back up.

In the distance, there came a loud noise like stone grinding against stone.

Then silence. Nothing seemed to happen.

They looked at each other warily. Trell nodded to Elora, who shrugged and reached for the sconce on her side. She pulled and again, there was a loud mechanical grinding sound. But nothing happened. They looked at each other with a knowing expression and in unison reached for the sconces. Together, they pulled both. A third time, pulling the sconces resulted in a loud noise but this time, it sounded different. Distinctly different from the first two.

They shot each other confused looks, considering the anti-climactic result of their epiphany.

"I'm so sorry if this goes wrong," Elora mumbled out the side of her mouth.

The team paused.

"Hmm. I think...this probably does something in another room," Cam suggested, "I think we put two and two together with these stairs, but they might not be the same thing."

"Yeah, maybe not."

Elora walked over to the corridor, opposite from the one they'd come in through. It was difficult to see much. Whereas the previous room and the room they were currently in was faintly lit by small beams of light poking through crevices in the ceiling, the way ahead seemed void of such illumination. The corridor was pitch black. Even with Elves' and Tieflings' inherent ability to still see in dim light, only with Cam's light dagger would they be able to proceed.

"Cam, could you help me out here?"

Cam nodded and approached the threshold of the corridor. Without a second thought, he tossed the glowing dagger, sending it spinning through the air, lighting up section after section of the path before him. It clattered to the ground, stopping some feet into the next room. With that, the room came into view. At the back of the room started what appeared to be rows of stone pews, which continued down. Further into the room, they could make out remnants of what must've been a fountain of sorts, but was now mostly rubble. Behind that, stood a statue of a tall, robed Elven figure. Much like the rest of what they'd seen, nearly everything was coated with clusters of gnarled, twisting vines. But most noticeable about the room, was what sat at the foot of the statue, well illuminated by the light radiating from the small dagger lying nearby.

Bodies. Fresh bodies.


	6. Bodies

Cam and Elora's eyes widened. With a wave of his hand, Cam dismissed the light spell, plunging the room back into darkness.

"Shit, my dagger..." Cam said, realizing what he had done in a state of panic.

Jiutou, still back on the landing, called out, "Before we move on anywhere, can anyone provide healing of some kind?"

 

"Oh yeah, you're pretty beat up" said Cam, noticing her wounds. He sauntered over and placed a hand on her shoulder. He closed his eyes, projecting energy out, attempting to heal her. The ring on his finger started to glow, as Jiutou was filled with mild warmth. Her wounds began to seal up. She felt grateful, but looking at the bizarre expression on Cam's face, as well as hearing the strange noises he was making, she couldn't help but feel a bit repulsed. Slight chest hairs were poking out and the waft of strong cologne hit her nostrils in full force, at Cam's proximity. She was really quite upset. But her gaze was drawn to the gently glowing ring on Cam's finger. Its silvery metal surface had a dull sheen to it, most likely due to the inability of the wearer to keep it in good condition whilst travelling. Atop the ring sat a curious looking rune.

"Thank you Mister Buckland."

"Feels nice, yeah?"

She nodded, curtly. Still eyeing up the ring. Noticing her staring, Cam retracted his outstretched hand warily.

Meanwhile, Elora turned away from the corridor to face the group.

"Right, so there are a lot of bodies in there..."

"What? Bodies!?" Cam yelped.

"Yeah, you saw them!"

Cam groaned. "Ugh, yeah. I did. Sorry, I tried to forget."

"Anyway, I want to go check out that statue..." Elora started, "But I don't really want to go in there if there's a lot of death."

"Well, I'm not very squeamish," Cam started, "So I'll go check out the bodies. Plus, I'm kinda missing my dagger already."

Elora nodded, then quickly rolled her eyes as Cam started lumbering down the corridor, stumbling and feeling his through the pitch black darkness. Inching forward into the room, he stopped as his hands came to rest on the first stone pew. Shifting around to the side of it, Cam dropped down, patting his hands across the floor. He brushed his fingers against something fleshy, leaving his hands covered with this wet, metallic-smelling substance. He recoiled, wiping against the front of his trousers. Meanwhile, Elora doubled back and removed a torch from one of the sconces, bringing it back to the corridor. She held it out, letting its light shine throughout the front area of the room. As it did, the small area around Cam was illuminated. He recoiled even further. He'd just touched an arm. A very dead arm. The substance was, in fact, blood. His eyes darted around. He let ouf a sigh of relief as his eyes found the dagger, which he quickly grabbed and sheathed. But the relief was short lived, as out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed something else. One of the bodies had ever so slightly moved. His eyes widening in panic, Cam stood and skittered backwards, still staring at the body in fear. He retreated as far back as he could until he was back with Elora. This far back, with her torch still lit, he could still make out one of the bodies starting to roll around, groaning softly.

"THEY'RE ALIVE! THE CORPSES ARE ALIVE!"

"Did you manage to see how many were in the room?" Jiutou asked.

"MM, NOPE. ALSO..." Cam started, as he began to realize something odd about the corpses appearance, "Their clothing...I know I've seen it before. They're...they'e from the caravan."

The four of them glanced each other worriedly.

"Some weird shit's going on in here..."


	7. Risen

Trell held a curled finger up to his lip, thinking. "Well, do we know that they are corpses? They could just be injured."

"I've got blood!" Cam said, pointing to the glistening red liquid coating his hand.

"Could still just be injured."

With that, Trell crossed back, removed the other lit torch and strode forward into the room. He proceeded further than Elora and Cam had and, with the torch, brightened up the room much more. Seeing movement, his eyes locked onto the nearby corpse. He approached it and crouched down low, next to it. It was face down and looked like it was currently trying to get up, but wasn't making much progress. As he drew closer, the body shifted turning its head upwards towards him. The front of the body now in sight, Trell inwardly gasped in horror. Two thick, thorny vines, of the same material they'd frequently encountered, protruded from one of its eye sockets, effectively having burst the eyeball, dried blood caked down the cheek. The vines curled down through the face and neck, weaving in and out of the flesh, tearing gaping holes and bloody wounds. They seemed to have ripped through the lower part of the neck, twisting around it, before digging further down the torso, distinct bulges poking out underneath the clothing. The thorns all along their surface stuck out menacingly, tearing holes in both flesh and fabric through out the entire body. As the corpse turned upward, it groaned loudly, suddenly lurching forward, reaching a gnarled, mangled hand towards Trell. He backed away quickly and, as he did, spotted another body, mutilated in a similar manner, was starting to stir further ahead in the room.

The other three had gathered at the corridor and were watching this happen – Jiutou was at the far back, practically still in the previous room, followed by Elora, still clutching the torch, then Cam, with a front row seat to the bizarre happenings before him. From where she stood, Jiutou stared in amazement and terror as the thorn ridden human lashed out at Trell.

"Elf, anything you can do with that druid magic of yours?"

"Uhm, maybe? I'm not sure!" Elora said frantically, unsure what to do.

Steeling her gaze, Jiutou reverted her attention back to Trell. With little hesitation, she once again planted her weapon into the ground, using it to propel her. She leapt, her feet striding effortlessly along the left wall, up and over Elora and Cam's heads. She kicked off, leaping in Trell's direction, landing squarely beside him., Guandao firmly in hand. Stepping past him, she brought the Guandao up and swung it hard, leaving a deep gash across the corpses' chest. Staring at her handiwork, she had torn through the flesh quite effectively, but there was no blood. To add more strange elements to the encounter, the creature reacted to the attack noiselessly, stumbling back a bit, before turning and reaching out again.

Seeing Jiutou soar over their heads and spring into action, Elora shook her head and focused. Closing her eyes, she willed her staff to become imbued with magical energy. As the long, wooden rod started to pulse with a soft light, she rushed into the room, darting behind Trell and Jiutou and stepping up onto one of the low, stone pews. She brought her staff up, clutching it in both hands and promptly swung it down, smacking it against the corpse. She angled the staff down, bringing it crashing into one its legs. They distinctly heard what sounded like bones breaking but, again, the creature remained silent. It stumbled again, swiping at the air, as its advance towards Trell was halted once more.

Recovering from the mild shock of everything happening so quickly, Trell raised his hand, purple energy gathering at his finger tips. With a subtle thrust of his arm, the energy focused into a beam, flying from his hand and connecting solidly with the entity before him. The harsh purple laser slammed into its torso, effectively punching a hole straight through it. With the sudden lack of support, the corpses upper body slumped backwards, seemingly about to collapse. But the vines weaved through the body suddenly sprung to life, re positioning themselves and yanking the upper body straight up. The creature remained standing.

Cam strode calmly into the room, pulling out one of his many daggers from their home on his body. He walked far enough so that he could make out the viny zombie between his allies. Looking closely at what he could see, illuminated by the torch, he locked on to the vine protruding across the bodies' neck. Holding the dagger up by his face, he paused to aim,before flinging the dagger with strength and precision. It spun, expertly through the air, before sinking into the vine, slicing straight through. At that, several of the vines retracted, flailing about before both they and the body slumped to the ground, dead. But it was a victory not to be celebrated yet. Whilst he had been focused on his well placed throw, the second zombie that Trell had noticed earlier, had taken this time to stumble over the pews towards Cam. Before he could react, it brought one arm down, violently striking him in the head with its sharp, thorny limb.


	8. Grim Victory

Cam cried out in pain, clutching his temple. Hearing his cry, Jiutou spun round, weapon at the ready. She leaped forward towards Cam's attacker, raising her Guandao. Focusing more on precision than power, she thrust her blade forward, aiming for the vines. Moving quite unpredictably, the creature turned, catching Jiutou by surprise and causing her to trip slightly. She found her footing and swiftly spun the blade back round for another attack. Bringing a large chunk of flesh with it as it was pulled out, the Guandao whistled through the air striking again but missing its mark. Jiutou still shaken by the first failed attack, cleaved into its flesh, barely missing a large portion of one of the vines.

Elora turned to this skirmish as well, raising her hands. She focused on the vines, praying for her Druidic magic to work. But the vines did not bend to her will. Something about these particular plants felt unnatural and radiated with a life force she could not control. She sighed in frustration, preparing her staff for another strike. She stepped past Trell, lifting her staff up. Gripping one of her hands lower, to leverage a much harder strike, she swung at the entity, hoping to bash out one of the vines from its resting place. The hit connected and on impact, managed to force one of the vines near the head to retreat. It flailed about as the head itself tilted back, falling limp. Regardless, the body didn't seem disheartened, its raised arms still swiping at them. With each movement, the head flopped about, lifelessly, in a rather grotesque manner. Elora recoiled in disgust, amazed the creature still stood.

Trell chose not to approach just yet. Instead, he focused behind the creature, somewhere near the front of the stone pews. He imagined a set of armor, clattering against the stone ground. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, that exact sound he'd imagined reverberated throughout the room, originating from the spot he'd focused on. The vine zombie slowly turned, to investigate the non-existent source. Having successfully distracted it, Trell darted further into the room, in front of the statue behind the altar. Arriving there, his eyes found the back of the altar revealing a hollowed out section of it. It seemed like something small sat inside, but he barely had time register what it was with everything happening around him.

With the creature distracted, Cam unsheathed another dagger and stabbed towards the mass of vines perched directly in the middle of its torso. His blade met its mark and with a deft strike he severed a handful of vines away from the group. The left arm and shoulder area went limp and, again, the corpse looked ready to fall. But the vines shifted and the body leaned upwards, straightening itself once again. Using its momentum of leaning back up, it swung one arm round, colliding with Cam's side. He doubled over, wheezing. With the severity of the pain radiating from the area, he suspected the creature had successfully bruised a few ribs. 

Jiutou glared angrily. It was time to end this. With her two deep red eyes focused on the pulsing heart of vines in the creatures torso, she, once again, raised her weapon. With all of her might, gripping both hands tightly round the shaft of her weapon, with white knuckles, she thrust straight through the core. The curved blade decimated much of the vines, causing them to wriggle. They spasmed wildly, moving to re position. But before they could do so, Jiutou retracted her blade, spinning around and stepping back. She pulled her weapon back towards her and with what strength left she could muster, went for a final attack. With the vines already weakened from her first blow, this attack destroyed whatever was left. With a fierce twist of the Guandao, she tore through the remaining foliage and what was left flopped off to the ground. The body itself went limp, stumbling backwards before smashing into the ground.


	9. The Temple

No longer in the heat of battle, the party paused to breathe and recover. But their victory was not to be celebrated joyfully. With the freedom now to more thoroughly and safely investigate, they examined the bodies lying around the room – including those of the enemies they had just defeated. They recognised them – some immediately, some upon closer inspection, but they recognised them. They knew their appearance and clothing, but had not learned their names. Made up of mere villagers and traders, they had also been a part of the same caravan as them. On their way from the town of Graybell, to the capital city of the Dawn Republic, Talas Val. They were there, with them, when they had been ambushed. It hadn't occurred to them, earlier, to think about where the others had ended up. Now, standing with this temple of sorts, its clear they had each met their horrifying demise. But it seemed a few were missing. There were certainly less bodies here than were present during the journey. Noticeable absentees included Tomas – the caravan master, whom the four of them had paid in order to join the caravan – as well as one or two other commoners they distinctly remembered travelling with them too.

Choosing not to linger on this new development, Trell stood behind the altar, peering into the opening he had spotted earlier. Looking closer now, he discovered two, small, beautifully decorated glass vials, each containing a peculiar looking liquid. Both were wrapped up in bundles of cloth and alongside them, sat two ceremonial-looking urns – 'most likely used to hold some sort of incense, or something along those lines', Trell thought. 'Probably quite valuable', he added. Choosing to perhaps sell of the urns later, he subtly leaned down to grab the contents of the altar. He sneakily shuffled the urns into his bag, going about this unnoticed, before taking a vial in each hand and standing up.

"Hey, I found these back here."

"Oh! Let's have a look?"

Cam approached Trell, promptly taking both into his own hands and peering at them intently.

"Well, these look like...healing potions. Yes, I've come across these before."

 

"Interesting..." Trell said, taking one back and examining it.

Cam groaned suddenly, clutching his ribs.

 

"Eugh, hang on guys. I might need a minute. Maybe a bit more than a minute," he said, nursing his injured side.

"Why don't you take a sip of one of the potions?" Jiutou asked.

Cam shook his head.

"Let's save those. I just need a breather. I'll be fine."

The rest of them nodded. As long as they made sure there were no other imminent dangers to be attended to, there wouldn't be any problem resting for a moment.

Meanwhile, Elora made her way over to the altar and statue, where Trell had been earlier. Looking up at the statue, she knew that this, too, was in dedication to Corellon Larethian. However, examining the altar and materials lying around it, she was more and more certain of the ancient nature of this temple. Everything seemed to be part of a tradition she learned of as a child, but knew to be, at this point, long dead. With that in mind, she deduced that the structure around them was likely a sort of barrow. Particularly for royalty. Judging by the décor, someone important must have been buried here. But a long, long time ago. She stepped out and walked over to one of the, now still, vine covered bodies. The entity as a whole repulsed and horrified here but certain things stood out, intriguing her. Firstly, the cuts along the body, through which some of the vines poked through and re-emerged, seemed deliberate. It didn't look as if the vines had burst through, but had instead made their way through THE existing cuts. Which led her to her second observation regarding the vines. They were definitely placed onto and into the corpse. Someone, with control over this strange and terrible plant, had planted them into both corpses. Elora's final observation was by far the most sinister. As observed earlier, the corpses didn't bleed. Something had bled them dry. But around the small, razor sharp thorns sat small patches of dried, caked blood. As if...the plant had taken it. Had drank it from the body. She shuddered at the thought and recoiled, stepping away from the corpses.

As Elora stepped out from behind the altar, the rest of them scanned the room. As well as the corridor they had come through, another corridor let out from the north side of the room, to the left of the altar. As per usual, this pathway, too, was decorated with bunches of these thick vines. Trell paced round the room, examining the bodies of the caravan members. For the most part, the items on their person were present and intact. All their clothes had been left on and most them even had their pouches. Amongst them all, he managed to scrounge roughly seven silver pieces. Several of them were still in possession of various bits of ornamental jewellery. Whoever was responsible seemed to have no interest in stealing from the people. They had killed them quickly and left them here.

 

"Guys, they strung up these people, drained their blood and put the vines in them, to reanimate them. Perhaps they were put in place here, just to ward US off?"

"Yeah, well, it's like they wanted us to find them. I mean, why would they put us in there..." said Elora as she gestured back in the direction of their makeshift cell.

"Well we could've been next. It could've been a holding pen, that we were put into."

"They also put our weapons really close by..." Cam pointed out.

"That was quite convenient" Jiutou said, warily.

"It was just a bush, holding us back. Eugh, my brain!" Cam said, suddenly, holding his fingers up to his temples, "Too much thinking!"

"But whoever did this doesn't care though," Jiutou said, ignoring his outcry and gesturing to the corpses, "It was a rough blade that sliced them."

"So do we think that they were sacrificed? That they were drained in this room?" Or.."

" Well there's no blood anywhere."

"They must have been drained in a different room."

"Guess there's more fun to come."

"Well let's make our way through."

Jiutou passed Cam and made her way to the corridor at the north side of the room, pulling out a torch from her pack. She stopped and pulled out a flint as well and promptly sparked life into the head of the torch. A gentle orange flame sprung to life, dancing around the cloth. Trell followed suit, holding high the torch he had taken earlier from the sconce. It's pale, ghostly blue flame still flickered with its eerie light. Cam, once again, removed a dagger and willed it to radiate light. The torch Elora had grabbed earlier lay, extinguished, on the floor, discarded during the fight when she had taken her staff in both hands. She bent down to grab it and quickly had it burning once more. With each new source of light, more and more details of the structure around them became visible. From where she stood at the corridor's threshold, Jiutou could see the next room ahead. Here, peculiarly, the stonework of the corridor seemed more refined. Areas of it seemed more sculpted, whereas the previous stonework seemed much more rough. The floor seemed to be built out of more carefully crafted flagstones. The architecture appeared more stable and less earthy.

Before they continued, Elora perked up suddenly.

"Ok, point to make," she said cautiously. The three turned to her. "This is a burial chamber and it looks like it's for someone important. So there's probably a grave for someone very important, somewhere in this building."

"You think they've come back? There's gonna be a big bad zombie vine?"

"I don't know!"

"Either someone is using this old temple as their new stomping ground or it's an old god who's come back."

"Well, we've already got the clue with those vines, you know, those vines were being used to reanimate those bodies. So..."

"That's true, but it could be some crazy vine cultist for all we know. Just taking this place over and messing up some corpses."

And with that, Cam pissed himself.


	10. Tomas

Cautiously and quietly, Jiutou began making her way down the corridor. The flame on her torch flickering, it's light bouncing off the walls. As the corridor began to open up into the next room, Jiutou stopped. She slowly held her torch further out in front of her, casting its low light into the next room. Alcoves lined the walls, each one home to a still, unmoving body wrapped in various cloths and linens. More vines coated the walls, but none of them seemed to be moving or out of position. The corpses remained wrapped up, undisturbed. Lowering her torch slightly, she then saw the blood, streaks of it, glistening across the floor. Stepping into the room, she then noticed something odd. More bodies lay around the room, in various positions on the floor, but they weren't human. They were like the creatures they had fought earlier, in the room with the mosaic. Beings comprised entirely of vines and twigs, animated by some foul magic. They were quite clearly dead. Moving even further in, that's when she saw him. Leaning up against one of the walls, bleeding heavily, arm twisted at a very painful-looking angle, one eye blackened with blood pouring from it and wielding one of the torch sconces like a makeshift club was an elderly human, still barely alive. He had thinning, pushed back grey hair and a grizzly beard to match. His clothing was black in colour and all tattered and was just as weathered as he looked. It was Tomas, the caravan master.

He was breathing heavily and nursing his wounds, groaning, seemingly unaware of Jiutou's presence. Cam slowly sauntered up behind Jiutou, followed by Elora, with Trell bringing up the rear. Jiutou kept her torch slightly behind her, dimming the light. Tomas moaned and shifted where he sat, still oblivious to the party's arrival. They whispered quietly amongst themselves.

"Is that...is that Tomas?"

"It would appear so."

Tomas looked around, slowly, due to the pain, now aware of the hushed voices and gentle light.

"Ugh...who's there?" he called out into the darkness, turning his head.

"Tom! Buddy," Cam called back, "Are you a vine zombie?"

"Urk....what? No, I'm not, you damn idiot." Tomas replied, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"I think that's hardly appropriate right now." Jiutou sighed.

"I...I need help."

At that, Cam gently pushed past Jiutou, stepping forward to kneel down next to Tomas. He assessed the wounds, hoping to stabilise him. Pulling aside some of his torn clothing, he stared, wide-eyed, at his wounds. Tomas had sustained some seriously heavy injury. There were deep claw marks raked across his side. He could now see that Tomas' arm had been very badly broken. His leg was torn up in several places, with muscle even being exposed. The left eye socket area was deep red; the eye was practically gone. Cam, holding back the retching, sprung into action, tearing away at what was left of Tomas' garments and repurposing them as bandages. There wasn't much he could do for the broken arm, but he tried his best to splint it, at least. He quickly dashed over and broke off some wood from the dead creatures lying around. He fashion a makeshift split and straightened out Tomas' arm. He snapped it into a place to straighten it, as Tomas let out an almighty yelp of pain.

"Sorry Tomas, it's the best we can do."

Tomas nodded, his eyes scrunched together in pain. He winced, but let Cam continue his work. To top it off, Cam finished by managing to get some sort of bandage wrapped around Tomas' head and eye. He stepped back, brushing his hands together.

"There we go. Best we can do for now."

"Ugh...thank you. Thought I was a goner."

Cam gestured for the others to follow him in.

"It's alright guys, come on in."

Tomas turned to see them all step in.

"You're...you're all alive?"

"Yeah. Best we can tell, we were all knocked out and we appeared in some room. We just found all the others from the caravan, dead. What happened? You survived!"

Elora knelt down to inspect the claw marks. They were definitely the same as the ones Jiutou had sustained earlier, during their encounter with the tree creatures.

Tomas groaned.

"My fault...ugh..I was careless. Been travelling these roads for so long, thought I knew them so well. We camped just outside of Tallfields, 'bout a day away. Something came out of the mist, some creature...something, I don't know, it was like the ground itself rose up!"

"Tree...creatures?"

"Yeah, like these," said Tomas gesturing to the dead, wooden bodies lying around, "I was in that room with you, until recently, they came and got me and dragged me here...through the temple with the bodies."

"Oh," Elora said, having an epiphany, "We WERE next..."

"How did you survive?" Cam asked Tomas.

"I...managed to grab onto a torch on the wall. Pulled it free. I don't think they expected me to fight back. I managed to club one and then the other two tore into me. I killed them, but...you saw what they did." Tomas winced as he sat up.

"It's alright, you'll be fine. I mean, look at my bandage work!" Cam said, proudly, "That's some fine work there! With the vines, and the cloth..."

"Well, least I won't die. But I'm no good. I can't walk...my leg is in far too bad shape. "

Cam looked over at Elora. "Is there anything you can do? To get him a bit better than this?"

"I could use magic I suppose...cure his wounds..."

"Well, I mean, he's a nice guy, but if one of US go down...might wanna save it. No offence Tomas."

"No you're right. Agh, don't waste your magic on me. I'm just an old fool. Listen, something...something strange is happening. The one who led these creatures, he's a man I know! A druid...a ranger of sorts, who protects these hills. I recognized him, he was there that night! He attacked me, knocked me unconscious."

"What's his name?"

"Renwyn. He seemed...in despair, somehow. He looked at me like he knew what he was doing, but..."

"He didn't wanna do it?" Cam offered, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah."

"Possessed?"

"Maybe, I don't know. These creatures...they listened to him."

"He controls them?"

"I don't know..."

"TOMAS!" Cam said, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him slightly, "TELL US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!"

"You're not helping human!" Jiutou retorted, reaching out for Cam's shoulder.

"Ugh, get off of me!" Tomas groaned, clutching his arm.

"Sorry, I get very passionate about these things. Is there anything you can tell us about Renwyn?"

"Just that he was...he's an old friend, really. I had spoken to him only a few times. He cared for this land. He cared to make sure travellers were safe. I...I don't know what would compel him to do all this."

"Did you see how he made these vines move? How does he control them?"

"No...he, he spoke to them. He would tell them what to do. He told them to bring me to...to her. In the larger room, beyond, he's-listen. I saw him. He went to the tomb, to the south. He might still be there."

"That way?" Cam pointed down a corridor leading in the direction they had come from. It seemed to lead into the other room next to the mosaic room, through the other corridor that they hadn't taken.

Tomas pointed as well. "Yeah, that way. He might still be there. He seemed...strange. You should be careful. He's dangerous. Powerful. He's looked after these lands for some time. "

"He could be the source of all this." Cam suggested.

"Maybe."

"If we kill him, we kill the zombies."

"Maybe. There was also a girl. They were taking her, ahead of me."

"Was she young? Innocent?" Cam asked.

"Not sure. Early twenties maybe."

"Right. That's still pretty messed up."

Tomas shot him a confused look.

"Yeah...it IS." He looked to the others, still confused about Cam.

"Anyway, Tom. Think you could hold yourself up here?"

"I'll be fine. You've done a lot. Just what I needed," Tomas replied, reaching over and grabbing the torch sconce, dragging it closer to himself, "They won't take me. Not again."

"I like you Tom," said Cam, smiling grimly, "You're a little racist, but, I quite like you." Whilst they had been conversing, he had noticed the subtle ways Tomas was warily eyeing up Jiutou and Trell.

Tomas shifted, uncomfortably, at the remark.

"It's just...they're kind are new to me. It's tough to get used to. Hearing stories, when we were kids, about...their kind stealing babies." He shot a look at Trell.

The others looked at him too.

"Who, him? Well he's proved himself to us. He's fine."

"I know, I know. But it's...it's tough."

"He's fine! If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here saving your ass right now."

"Alright...alright, Drow. Anyway, be careful. If Renwyn's there, be careful."

"Tell you what, you look at that corridor," Cam said, pointing to the other corridor leading out of the room, "If anything comes through, you shout."

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out."


	11. The Dryad

As the rest of the party took a minute to check that Tomas was going to be ok, Jiutou crept ahead, down the westward hallway. As she reached the end of the corridor, the roof above her opened up into a high ceiling. Worn, old archways, held up by giant, thick stone pillars, nearly 5 feet in diameter, gave the room a domed appearance. The surfaces of these pillars were covered in intricate carvings and depictions of elven runes and symbols. In front of them, beginning at the threshold of the corridor, sat a short but wide flight of stairs leading down to a slightly lowered floor. The room was massive. In the lowered section of the room, towards the north wall, sat another stone altar. This one looked more like a pedestal of sorts, with a large stone base. Behind it, stood a large, stone door, oval in shape and surrounded by even more elven runes. As she looked around, she noticed as well the presence of two figures behind the altar, in front of the door.

One of the figures appeared to be a woman. But she looked like no woman Jiutou had ever seen before. Instead of flesh, there was bark and vines, woven together to form a slim, elegant and beautiful female form. From her head, flowed a mixture of deep green vines and leaves, cascading past her shoulders. Peppered all across her body were these small red dots, which Jiutou, after looking closely, realized were tiny flower buds. In some areas, these flowers clustered to form a sort of false clothing. They bloomed across her chest, concealing her strange, wooden breasts and further down dangled around her lower regions. Her eyes glowed with an effervescent green, standing out intensely amongst her soft, feminine features.

Beside her, stood a creature much like the ones Jiutou and her companions had fought earlier. But instead of its body being comprised of flimsy bark and twigs, this one was mostly made of vines. It was much larger as well, standing at a good 7 feet, lumbering around and moving much slower. Its arms, these thick vines coiled around each other, were raised above its head and were currently holding up a human girl. Jiutou's blood ran cold as she watched the last few drops of blood drip from her neck and wrists. The creature was holding her up above the wooden-looking woman, who was clutching a small, wooden dagger in one hand. The blood from the girl dripped down, falling into a small bowl that had been placed on the altar. Then, the woman spoke.

"Very good. Put her down," she said, with a very soft voice.

The creature gently lowered the girl, placing her down on the altar. Suddenly, the woman's eyes darted to where Jiutou stood, hiding in the darkness. She called out into the shadows, shifting her head slightly, straining to see.

"Who-who's there? Renwyn? Renwyn, is that you?"

A moment passed, in complete silence. The woman turned, giving the creature beside her a confused look, before looking back in Jiutou's direction. By this point, the rest of the party had quietly crept up behind Jiutou. She gestured for them to stay quiet and stay put.

"Who's there? I know this may look strange, but this is not what it seems."

From where they were hiding, Elora peered out over Jiutou's shoulder at the two figures behind the altar. With her druidic background, she instantly recognized the woman. This was a dryad, a spirit of nature, almost an embodiment of it. They typically dwelled in trees and were seen as protectors of the land and forests. Being fey creatures there were known as allies of the woodland.

Jiutou stepped out, revealing herself. The dryad tilted her head, looking curiously at her.

"Oh, you were with the caravan," she said, gently placing the knife down upon the altar. "I know that this must seem so strange, but allow me to explain."

She remained so softly spoken, tilting her head every now and then like a curious child.

"Go ahead", said Jiutou.

"This place...it has been corrupted. It has been blighted. There is an ancient spirit here: an Elf queen. She is sick, unwell. I was brought here with Renwyn to help him cleanse it. But unfortunately, the only way...is through quite horrible means."

The wooden, rough texture of her skin made her face difficult to read, but as best she could make out, Jiutou watched as the dryad's face shifted into an almost sorrowful expression.

"These creatures are born of the corruption. I can control them for some time but not for long, I'm afraid."

"Why is it blood that cleanses them?"

"It is the fresh blood of innocent lives that must be placed on the spirits tomb. It is what she hungers for. When she is fed, hopefully she will leave into the afterlife. I'm afraid that it is not something I am...very familiar with. The undead are strange, alien to me. I am a creature of life."

"What's the name of the queen?"

"Her name was once Ayandris."

Cam then chose to reveal himself too. Gulthia's eyes widened slightly again, in surprise.

"Oh! Another one," she remarked.

"This is pretty messed up," said Cam, eyeing the body of the girl the creature had lowered onto the altar.

"Yes, it is very unfortunate."

"What's your name?" asked Jiutou.

"I am Gulthia."

"Can I call you G-Unit?" asked Cam.

"A strange name...you humans are so strange sometimes."

"Ignore the human, he's very tiresome," sighed Jiutou, wearily.

"Some strange tree liquid has...seeped onto my trousers," Cam said, ignoring Jiutou and gesturing to his dampened crotch area, "I wonder if there's a way to dry it?"

Gulthia tilted her again curiously, before raising her hand and waving it. Flowers began blooming across Cam's crotch, drying up the urine and neutralizing the smell, replacing the foul scent with that of fresh flowers.

"Thank you....G-Unit," said Cam, shooting a finger at Gulthia.

"You are very strange."

Cam raised his hands and began making all sorts of gestures, out of respect. He tried to make them seem prayer-like in nature, but had no idea what he was doing. Still curious and a little confused, Gulthia slowly mimicked his movements. Whispering back towards Elora, Cam asked, "What is she?"

"She's a dryad!"

Cam glanced down at his nether regions and gasped. "She dries things!"

Elora smacked a hand to her forehead.

"G-Unit," Cam continued, "Have you killed enough?"

"I-I'm afraid I don't know. Her spirit...I can still hear it, tormenting..."

"Is there anything we can do?" Cam asked.

"Oh...perhaps, but, it is very dangerous. The spirit dwells in a tomb, to the east. If you could defeat the spirit, it would uncorrupt the land."

"That way?" Cam asked, pointing to the corridor opposite theirs.

"Yes. You must pass through a burial chamber – it is south of that."

"Why didn't you do this first? Before killing all these innocent people?"

"Oh, I cannot. The spirit is too powerful for myself or Renwyn. I would not risk his life."

"I have question for you," Trell said, stepping out as well.

Gulthia once again stared in surprise.

"Oh! You are quite strange. You are an Elf, but your skin is so different. And your hair..."

"No need to bring up any of that. What's behind the door? Behind you?"

"That is the Elven queen's tomb. I believe she has attached herself to the burial chamber of her daughter, for some reason."

"What's the name of the daughter?" asked Jiutou.

"Dehal."

"Do you know the way out of here?" inquired Elora.

"I believe that there is a chamber beyond the daughter's tomb," Gulthia replied, "That is how we brought the caravan and yourselves here."

"So we have to go that way regardless..." Trell murmured.

"Well, I think we should go and find Renwyn..." said Jiutou.

"We could just leave," suggested Cam. "There's been enough bloodshed."

"But we have to go that way to get out," Trell reemphasized, "So we're going to run into him anyway."

"We should go find Renwyn and get some more information," said Jiutou, "Because I think, instead of killing the queen, we could put her spirit to rest."

"Do we think...she's a bit pissed off because her daughter's dead?" asked Trell.

"Yeah."

As the conversation carried on, Gulthia looked at each of them, twisting her head this way and that. She stared, like a curious child with her head tilted and her eyes wide.

Cam turned to her. "How did you end up here, G-Unit?"

"When the land started to become corrupted, I was brought here to try and heal it."

"By who?"

"By nature. Renwyn was kind enough, being a guardian of these lands, to come. He is not happy with what must be done, but he understands that if it is not controlled, this corruption will spread. It will grow further. More of these creatures will arise and I will not be able to control them."

"Alright, well," Cam started, "Lay off the killing, I think...we can maybe find another way."

"Oh, if you can do this without further bloodshed, you will have my deepest gratitude."

"Is there any way you can assist us, if we do try and put the queen's soul to rest?" asked Jiutou.

Gulthia paused to think. "Perhaps...there is one thing. Renwyn did discover this." She reached behind the altar and pulled out a small, delicate Elven-looking circlet. "I believe it belonged to the daughter. Perhaps if you present it to the queen, she could be at peace, somehow."

"Do you mind if I take it?"

"No, please," Gulthia said, holding the forehead circlet out.

Jiutou reached out, taking the ornate headpiece carefully and respectfully, before turning back to the party. "Ok, I suggest we find Renwyn, see if we can learn more about the queen, then go and confront her."

"Seems like a plan," said Elora.

"Would you like me to come with you to find him?" asked Gulthia.

"Hm. Alright, G-Unit. Follow us," said Cam.

"Oh, certainly."

"Who's your friend, by the way?" asked Cam, pointing at the large creature made of vines, stood beside Gulthia.

"He is one of the creatures created by the corruption."

"Can you leave him here?" Elora asked, warily.

"Yes, yes, they will obey my commands for some time." Gulthia raised her hands towards the creature. Its head slowly drooped forward while the rest of the body seemed to slump, the creature entering what looked like a sort of slumber.

"If you ever start to lose control, you let us know, alright?" said Cam, anxiously.

"Oh yes, I will." Gulthia replied, nodding.

"Ok, good. Let's go."

The party turned round, heading back down the corridor, with Gulthia following closely behind. Her slender, lithe form moved gracefully behind them, her head turning every which way in a very curious, child-like manner.


	12. Renwyn

As they reentered the burial chamber, Tomas groaned and coughed as he sat up, seeing them walk in. His eyes widened at the sight of Gulthia.

"Ugh, agh! Who's this? Is it one of those creatures?"

Gulthia, seeing the wounded, battered form of Tomas, looked down at him, a concerned expression crossing her face.

"Oh, how terrible..." she remarked, "It is a shame - what we've had to do here..."

"You don't have to kill him, right?" Cam asked her, cautiously.

"No," she answered, reassuringly, "If you can deal with the spirit, there will be no more bloodshed."

Cam nodded, turning to Tomas. "It's ok, Tom. She's with us."

Tomas eyed up the dryad, unsure. "Well, if you guys trust this...thing, then sure."

"Apparently, we're gonna help cleanse this place," Cam explained, "We gotta go speak to Renwyn, though."

"Alright, well maybe you can get some sense out of him," said Tomas, pointing down the other corridor.

The party nodded and made for the corridor, in search of Renwyn. As they passed, Gulthia and Tomas maintained eye contact, staring at each other strangely. Tomas shook his head, turning back around to fix his seating position. As they made their way in, Cam subtly slipped to the back of the group, beside Gulthia. Trell strode forward in front of them, behind Elora, with Jiutou leading the way.

The hallway was short and opened up into a large circular room. High above them was, yet, another domed ceiling, held up by four, large stone columns. Right in the center of the room sat a weathered, stone sarcophagus. On its surface, there appeared to be, carved, a stone relief of a robed, Elven man. Beautiful, intricate writing lined the walls, helping to create what looked like a very elegant burial chamber. In one of the corners of the room, sat the makings of a makeshift camp – a bedroll, a leather pack, the remains of a campfire. Beside the camp, they could make out a man, dressed in earthy looking brown and green robes, with leather armor underneath and carrying things like animal pelts and small pouches. He was armed with a short bow, strapped to his back and a hunting knife, hanging by his hip. He seemed unaware of the presence as of yet, and looked to be deep in meditation. As the party slowly shuffled in, he opened his eyes, looking up at them.

"N-no, what are you doing, you can't-you can't be here-"

He stopped mid-sentence, as Gulthia stepped out to greet him.

"Renwyn, it is fine. They are here to help with our problem."

"Oh... you are here to help us cleanse this place?"

They nodded, quietly.

"Very well, yes. How...how can I help you?"

Jiutou stepped forward.

"We wish to put the spirit of Ayandris to rest, without bloodshed. So we need more information. Your dryad has given us the circlet of her daughter. Can you tell us anymore of, perhaps, why she stays in her daughter's chamber?"

"Yes, well," Renwyn started, warily looking up.

Gulthia, again, spoke up reassuringly. "It's ok Renwyn, we can trust them. We don't need to hurt anybody anymore."

"Yes...that would be for the best," he said, nodding, "Uhm, yes, Ayandris...my master told me of her. She was an Elven queen, a quite powerful sorceress. Her and her family defended these lands from giants many, many years ago. Her daughter was slain by the giant's chieftain. He had a weapon – a mace – constructed by his shamans, a terrible weapon. It had killed hundreds of Ayandris' people. The daughter claimed it as a prize in battle, for slaying him. But it was said that this weapon had some sort of...perhaps a curse, or something, placed upon it."

The air felt grim and the party remained silent, as they listened to Renwyn's tale.

"I believe that Ayandris may be...captured, by this spirit. Her daughter may be affected – this weapon may be affecting her spirit somehow. And Ayandris has been driven to madness over hundreds, thousands, of years of torment, while her daughter was in pain. That is, at least, what I believe."

The party remained still remained silent - soaking in the myriad of information Renwyn had just given them.

"Hm. Do we know where this weapon is?" Cam asked.

"Yes. In her burial tomb." Renwyn answered.

"Right. That's probably where this tormented spirit is, as well."

"I believe so. We have avoided it. The spirit will be quite powerful and I do not feel I, myself, am a match for it."

"Maybe we are," said Cam, looking around and gesturing to his allies.

"Yes, perhaps you are."

"So, perhaps, if we locate the weapon," Jiutou started, "Remove the curse, the daughter is freed, the mother will be at rest."

"Do you think, after thousands of years of torment, she's just going to snap out of it?" Cam asked, skeptically.

"It is possible," said Renwyn, "We have not been able to attempt it...so perhaps-"

"Mm," said Cam, interrupting him, "So you killed a load of innocents, instead."

Renwyn's face fell, his tired and haggard looking features hung down in shame. "Please understand...if there had been any other way, I...Gulthia...we spoke of this at length. This was the only option."

"This was a slaughter! These people...they could've riled up together and-and, fought this spirit! Rushed in there, y'know? At least give them a fighting chance..."

"Perhaps. But if they had failed, the lands around Tallfield, and perhaps even those around the Dawn Republic itself, this corruption would have spread."

"But you failed anyway. And all these people are dead."

Renwyn said nothing, his head still hung in shame.

"Tomas is alive."

Renwyn perked up. "He is?"

"Yeah, barely."

"Oh, that is...that is a relief."

Cam nodded. There was a moment of silence before Trell spoke up.

"So what could you do to aid us?" he asked, "If we took you along with us to try and sort out this spirit, is there anything that you could do that isn't maiming murdering innocent people?"

Elora quickly cut in. "Can you try and heal Tomas?" she asked.

"I might be able to, yes," Renwyn replied, nodding, "That is something I can do. I can, perhaps, cast a spell of protection on one of you. But that is, I'm afraid, the limit of my power."

"Can you try and help Tomas first?"

"If you want, I can go and heal him, while you go and deal with the specter."

"We would like to take him with us."

Renwyn paused, confused. "You can," he said slowly, "But he may be at risk."

"He's a bit dead wood at the moment," Jiutou pointed out, "I'd rather take Renwyn, who would be able to cast a protective spell on us."

"What would this protective spell do?" asked Trell.

"It will make your skin as tough as bark, granting you some protection against attacks," explained Renwyn.

"I prefer the sound of that, rather than a limping caravan master."

"We can come back for him, provided we walk away from this endeavor unscathed."

"I will look after him, while you are away," said Renwyn.

"He is a caravan master," said Cam, "Probably hasn't got much skill in combat, anyway."

"He did fend off all those creatures," said Elora, pointedly.

"That's true."

"But he's got a busted leg and no eye," Jiutou reminded them.

"So will you come with us?" Cam asked Renwyn.

"Well, I will need to stay behind to tend to Tomas' wounds. I can cast the spell on one of you and you can take it with you, but I will need to remain behind."

"So who wants the bark-y skin? Because I don't really want to be like one of them, to be honest."

"Well," said Renwyn, "I can see that some of you are already wearing leathers and armor. I believe it may be best on your Tiefling friend, since she doesn't appear to have any protection as such."

The party nodded in agreement.

"Very well. I will cast it on you just before you leave, to ensure that it does not wear off beforehand."

The party took a brief moment to examine the room. Judging by the design and writing on the sarcophagus in the middle of the room, this appeared to have been where the queen's husband had been entombed. But there seemed to little areas of interest around. After a few minutes more, the party along with Renwyn and Gulthia, made their way out of the room. Gulthia approached Tomas, stooping down to check on him. Renwyn turned to the party before they parted ways.

With a glowing green hand, he reached out and touched Jiutou, gently, on the arm. She shivered slightly, as this magical energy surged through her body, making her skin crawl briefly. She watched as it hardened and started to almost crust, turning into a bark like surface. Before they turned to leave, Renwyn spoke up.

"One more thing. It may be that there are traps in that room. We have not explored it. I've disabled some of the wards that I've found around, but you should be careful all the same."

They nodded and departed.


	13. Crossed Swords

The party of four, once again, entered the room in which they first encountered Gulthia and crossed over to the opposite corridor. They found that the next room was very similar to the one they had found Tomas in. Alcoves housing bodies lined every wall. But here, across the floor, the mist that they'd seen previously dissipated. Engraved across the entire, they found a mural of sorts, depicting elves and hill giants in battle. On the mural itself, they found worn-looking elven writing, which Elora was able to roughly translate.

" Let Corellon guide the worthy, not with crossed blades but with great deeds."

"Interesting..."

Slowly, Cam began to tiptoe into the room, stepping gingerly across the mural. There was no way to avoid, since it blanketed the entire floor. He scanned the floor warily, keeping an eye out for anything 'naughty'. As he proceeded, one of his footsteps landed on an area of the mural where one of the elven swords crossed with one of the hill giant's swords. As he stepped, the two swords pressed into the ground. Suddenly with a cacophony of whooshes, darts flew out from the ground around him. They whizzed through the air, embedding into Cam's flesh. A wave of nausea suddenly overcame him. In his eyes, the room began to spin and change color.

At that, now that they looked more carefully, similarly crossed swords were scattered all over the mural. But now that they were aware of them, they seemed easy enough to avoid. Cam stayed where he was, swaying almost drunkenly, on the spot. They watched in nervousness as he started to lurch, seemingly ready to stumble and possibly set off more traps. But he managed to catch and steady himself, allowing the other three to let out a sigh of relief.

They gingerly started making their way across too; making sure to avoid stepping on anymore crossed swords. As they approached where Cam was, Elora gently held him and guided him with them to the other corridor; perpendicular to the one they'd come from. Cam stared at Elora's face in confusion and mild terror.

"Stop...stop melting your face!" he groaned, as Elora's face shifted and distorted. Her skin changed from purple to orange to red and then to yellow. "Someone give me a potion!"

They all turned to Trell. He had the potions. He didn't seem to be rushing to Cam's aid. Instead, he paused, thinking and smiling mischievously. "Hmmmmm."

"You have the potions."

"I do have the potions, but..."

At this point, Cam slowly sat down and began to sway in circles.

"He's not doing so good. If we're going to get through this, we might need to give him one."

Trell remained silent, pondering whether or not he should give him one. "Maybe it'll just wear off eventually."

Elora sighed, annoyed and started examining Cam. She inspected his eyes and his body, and made him drink lots of water. A few times, Cam retched throwing some of it up. After checking him, she figured, it seemed so minor that it would probably wear off in about five minutes. The intent of the darts would probably have been to force an individual to stumble onto more swords, activating more darts and causing further damage. But Cam had managed to steer clear, avoiding the worst of the trap.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the effects of the poisoned darts began to subside. Changes in color became less severe and less frequent. The nausea died down, but Cam still felt pain radiating from where the multiple darts had stabbed into him. But he brushed them off, nursing the areas.

"Thanks for the help...Trell," Cam said, sarcastically, "I'm very, very injured from the darts shootin' up. So whoever had that potion...I think it was old Trelly-belly. Come on man! Stop holding back! Look at me!"

"Could you not, perhaps, make it worth my while?"

Cam started at him in amazement.

"What do you want? A flower from my crotch?"

"No, no, you can keep that."

Elora, using her druidic magic, crafted a small flower and held it out to Trell.

"Come on, please?" she asked, innocently.

"Your floral ways have no effect on me."

After searching through his things briefly, Cam spoke up again. "Best thing I can do," he sighed, "I've got a purple hanky. I mean, I was saving this. I've got a very nice silk, purple hanky with some lovely embroidering on it. It would probably fetch for quite a lot. It'd look great with, you know, your complexion."

Trell stared back skeptically.

"Come on, look how good it is! So soft! Touch it!"

"Well...it is quite nice I suppose. Don't know what I'd really need a hanky for, but...alright then. I'll take your hanky."

They made the trade, Cam quickly snatching the potion out of Trell's hands and downing it. As Cam's body finished neutralizing the rest of the poison, they turned to look down the corridor. Very unlike the rest of the barrow, the walls and floor were void of any vines or thickets. The mist that swirled across the floor in the other rooms ha completely dissipated here. There was a very cold, unnatural air about the place. Ahead of them, they could see a large oval room with another sarcophagus in the middle. Each one of them felt their skin ripple with goose bumps and their hair stand on end.


	14. The Queen

Similar to the room they'd found Renwyn in, this room was held up by four, large stone columns, stretching upwards to the domed ceiling. But while the sarcophagus in that room appeared sealed and undisturbed, this one seemed quite clearly the opposite. The large stone covering had been pushed off slightly, still resting on the tomb, but askew.

Quietly and carefully, the party slowly crept into the room. Whispered seem to echo out from the shadows, but were virtually incomprehensible. The room was very, very cold. But from what they could tell, practically empty. No plants. No mist. Just eerie silence, save for the sounds of their own breathing.

They slowly approached the stone sarcophagus. Inside, there lay, naturally, the wrapped up remains of a body. Lying on top of it, lengthwise, they found a huge, black stone mace. From its size, this was most certainly not crafted for any elf, but looked to still be wieldable by any of the party. The craftsmanship looked very...evil and mean. It's dull, black surface looked very ominous.

They remained at a slight distance, hesitant to approach the tomb. Cam tiptoed, peering into it from where they stood.

"Guys, the mace is in there, but there's also some strange, dead elf in there as well. Knowing this place, it could reanimate at any moment. So we have to get in there somehow. I've got some rope. How about you guys help me tie this around and we can pull the lid off, at a distance."

They paused, looking at each other, thinking.

"Or...Trell! You can go right up and hook it round," said Cam, "I'll stand at the back, monitoring. Just a thought. Just throwing it out there."

Suddenly, Jiutou stepped forward, raising her hands and shoving Cam towards the sarcophagus. Cam lurched forward, stumbling, planting both hands on the stone tomb to steady him. From the wall, ahead of them, there came a long, drawn out gasping and hissing. They watched in terror and awe as a ghostly, green figure of a woman emerged through the wall. They could see right through her glowing, ethereal body. Her dress was in tatters and her face was gaunt and hollow, right up to her elven looking ears. Her hair flowed, madly, around her.

"You!" she hissed, with a terrifying, raspy groan. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to help!" Elora squeaked.

The queen turned her head towards her, curiously. She seemed to be deciding what to make of her claim.

Jiutou pulled out the circlet that Gulthia had given her and held it out in front of her, stepping forward.

At that, the queen turned her attention away from Elora, her head snapping around to look directly at the Tiefling. As her eyes locked with the small, glittering headpiece her expression began to change, severely. Her features contorted, rage beginning to erupt on her face, her jaw elongating, as she let out a horrific howl that echoed throughout the room and reverberated in each of their ears.

"MURDERERS!"


End file.
